feel really sad that he's gone- i know people say ahh its only a game, they're all money grabbers etc, but it feels as though Timmy was one of the genuine ones, who would have ran through a brick wall for the club.........always dreaded this day would come, but again saying that, im glad he's gone while we still remember him as a truly great Evertonian, and he hasnt just faded away in the ressies for the next couple of years...........oh how im going to miss that corner flag punching...shame really we won't be able to give him a proper send off (although id probably cry!!!!) Cheers for the memories Bluekangaroo

Cahill: An Everton iconJuly 24, 2012Email PrintBy Richard Jolly(Archive)Even the celebrations were symbolic. Tim Cahill treated many a corner flag as a punchbag, bouncing as he boxed. For eight years, his fighting spirit helped Everton punch above their weight, his combativity copied by his colleagues.

Tim Cahill's punching of the flag became his trademark celebrationBut, as the Australian prepares to trade Merseyside for Manhattan, the Toffees of Everton for the Red Bulls of New York, his methods provided a metaphor in themselves. Cahill stands under six feet, but he leaps above rather bigger men and 31 of his 56 Premier League goals came with his head. Rather than being camouflaged by a crowd of giants, he helped Everton reach unexpected heights. Eight seasons at Goodison Park brought seven top-eight finishes; his debut campaign remains as remarkable as it appeared then.

Everton had narrowly avoided relegation the previous summer, lost Wayne Rooney to Manchester United and spent £1.75 million on a midfielder from Millwall. They went on to finish fourth.

Cahill's arrival was the product of David Moyes' thorough approach to scouting and the Scot's willingness to trawl the lower leagues was justified. Cahill's explosive second appearance set the tone for his stay; he was sent-off for celebrating a winner at the Etihad Stadium. A role as the scourge of Manchester City was a recurring theme; predictably, it was Cahill who scored the opener when Everton triumphed in Manchester during the big freeze of December 2010. In temperatures of minus nine degrees Celsius, the Australian was wearing a short-sleeved shirt. Gloves and snoods were never his style.

Perpetual running kept Cahill warm that night. He was an irrepressible, at times irresistible, underdog who harried the moneyed. Yet it was also the beginning of the end; thereafter, only three corner flags were punched in his final 52 Everton appearances. For six-and-a-half years, however, he was the closest to a guarantee of goals from midfield outside the elite. Five came against Liverpool, making Cahill Everton's record post-war derby scorer.

And yet it is not the statistics, the 278 games and 68 goals, that made Cahill the most significant player of Moyes' reign. He was emblematic of Everton, equipped with a never-say-die attitude and a willingness to battle. Phil Neville was the ultimate professional, Leighton Baines the lifelong Evertonian and Mikel Arteta the artist, but Cahill was the talisman.

He shaped the side. Moyes' 4-4-1-1 system has become his trademark, but it was designed to suit Cahill, who was Marcus Bent's energetic support act in 2004-05. He spent spells deeper in midfield and led the line when, as tended to happen, Everton found themselves short of a striker but Cahill was at his finest as the bridge between two departments of the side.

He was one of the constants in a time of continuity. Moyes placed an emphasis on recruiting the right characters and instilled loyalty in his charges. Cahill spent the best years of his career at Goodison Park without agitating for a move and with the aid of several close friendships. He served as best man at Arteta's wedding, players who represented graft and craft respectively forming an alliance on and off the pitch.

Tim Cahill joined Everton in 2004Now the Spaniard has gone and the Australian is set to follow. An era is ending at Goodison Park. Louis Saha, the most complete striker of the Moyes years, left in January. Joseph Yobo, signed in the Scot's first summer in charge, is set to depart. The stalwarts of his side are heading in different directions, the manager quietly switching his focus to the next generation. At 30, Arteta is the youngest of the quartet. At 32, Cahill lacks the dynamism he displayed at his peak.

The changing of the guard began last season. Cahill concluded the campaign on the bench with Marouane Fellaini operating in the striker's slipstream. The signing of Steven Naismith provides another option and should allow the Belgian man-mountain to return to the heart of the midfield. In Ross Barkley, Jack Rodwell, Darron Gibson and the unheralded Leon Osman, Moyes could trial others in what, at Goodison Park, really should be called 'the Cahill role'. Now his sale should permit the return of Steven Pienaar, another who could support Nikica Jelavic.

They are a diverse group of contenders with one common denominator: none, even the physical, fearless Fellaini, are quite like Cahill. It is an understatement to say he will be missed, but an accurate appraisal to say the time had come for a parting of ways.

A few paragraphs ago, it said Cahill ended the year on the bench. As far as Moyes' starting 11 is concerned, that is true. Technically, however, he finished it by getting sent off after the final whistle on the last day. It is a suspension that will never be served and ensuring that Cahill's Everton career was bookended by a hint of controversy. Within that, however, there were plenty of goals, many delivered after a typically athletic spring. His height was average, his impact huge.

Tim Cahill gingerly removed his cleats, extended his legs and revealed the massive blisters on the bottom of both feet to everyone unable to avert his gaze in the RFK Stadium visitors’ locker room.

"When are we going to play on real grass,” he asked.

RFK Stadium does have real grass. Perhaps the field was a bit harder than what Cahill was used to back in England, but more than likely, those blisters were a reflection of the player rather than the pitch.

“He’s all over the place. His work ethic, the way he creates chances,” Red Bulls coach Hans Backe told Sporting News when asked to describe the midfielder’s effort. “He’s phenomenal. It will be a massive signing for us.”

Cahill’s effort and ethic already were legendary when he joined New York in July.

During eight seasons at Everton, and in the six years at Millwall before that, the Australian embodied the spirit of working-class clubs forced to compensate for their lack financial wherewithal with intensity, vigor and devotion. He was a hard-running, hard-tackling central midfielder who could destroy at one end and quickly create at the other, while possessing the strength and will to dominate in the air despite standing only 5-10.

“My family, being Samoan, loved rugby, and because it is a fearless culture, I was encouraged simply to stick my head in anywhere, even when the boots were flying,” Cahill told ESPN shortly after signing with the Red Bulls. “People always talked about my lack of height, but I believe I showed them that how tall you are does not matter. It is the size of your heart that counts."

Heart was just what was needed at Red Bull Arena, where a talented but often distracted team proved to be worth much less than the sum of its parts during a miserable 2011 season. If that heart came inside a player with skill and savvy who could run things in central midfield while removing some of the burden from Thierry Henry, then all the better.

Signing Cahill, 32, was a coup for the club and MLS. He had two years left on his contract at Everton, and the Red Bulls paid a reported $1.6 million for his rights. New York GM Erik Solér called him “the technical, physical presence we’ve been looking to add” who “can help us immediately in our quest to win the MLS Cup this season.”

As every long-suffering fan at Red Bull Arena knows, New York never has won a major trophy and is the only one of the 12 teams founded in the 1990s with that distinction (two are defunct). Cahill’s only club honor is the English third-division crown he won with Millwall in ’01.

He never has played for a team expected to win a championship. Now, he’s with one that’s wealthy, talented and desperate.

Shortly after showing off those blisters following New York’s 2-2 draw with D.C. recently, Cahill told Sporting News he wasn’t fazed by the expectations.

“Let’s forget about figures and forget about all this stuff that comes with it,” he said. “I signed with this football club because I want to do the right thing by this football club and the league. I’m here to put my body on the line. I’ll play every game. ... I want to train hard and make sure I’m giving everything for them on the pitch and running that extra mile.”

So far, he has played every game. In fact, he has played every minute of the six scheduled matches since making his MLS debut Aug. 3. The Red Bulls (15-7-6) lost that day in Houston but are 3-0-2 since and have climbed to two points of first-place Sporting Kansas City (14-7-7). Those two clubs meet tonight in Harrison, N.J., for the Eastern Conference lead.

Cahill has one goal and two assists in a Red Bulls uniform, but his impact extends far beyond the score sheet. He is versatile and comfortable playing in a variety of formations and alongside a variety of teammates. He has looked good partnering with Dax McCarty, a more defensive-minded player having an excellent season, and can give Henry the freedom to do more running behind defenders instead of retreating into midfield to find the ball.

Last Saturday against the Columbus Crew, Cahill played for an hour alongside Rafa Márquez, the mercurial designated player who has been the cause, or at least the symbol, of many of the club’s problems. That worked as well. Márquez had an assist, and New York won, 3-1.

“I’m not surprised at all by what he can bring to the team,” said Henry, who faced Cahill while with Arsenal. “You can see he’s a physical player. I think the referees are getting him wrong sometimes because they’re not used to the physicality of maybe the Premiership, the way he jumps and everything. But he’s a fair player. It’s more about a competitor.

“He’s a competitor, and he can help everybody going forward. I think that’s the most important thing. He’s bringing another dimension to this team. We can play long. He can hold the ball and stuff like that. I think that can be great for us.”

Cahill’s commitment is legendary. He has tattoos signifying his stays at Millwall and Everton, and he told ESPN he wouldn’t play for another EPL club after leaving Goodison Park.

“He could die for the cause wherever he plays,” Backe said. “It’s a phenomenal attitude.”

But does a classic overachiever like Cahill have any of those feelings for the Red Bulls, an underachieving club that signed him only a couple of months ago? He insisted he does, and the certainty in his voice, not to mention his body of work, suggests he was telling the truth.

“Of course, I love this team,” he told Sporting News. “This is my work. This is what I do. Why sign for a club when you’re not going to put everything into it. We’re here to play football, and that’s the one thing that I said from the start.

“I’m not going to take my foot off the gas. ... This is my priority. This is my team. This is where I want to succeed.”